The Realities and Fictions of Saving Private Ryan - Movie Review Example

The first thirty minutes of the movie depicted the carnage that happened on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day. There was a real Omaha Beach were American troops made their landing and beachhead. The Higgins boat which transported the troops and landed them on the beaches were accurate. The carnage depicted used the perspective of the infantryman on the beach, which tried to approximate the brutality of the landings. Although many died on the beaches and the landing areas were pre-sighted by the Germans with their guns and artillery, it was not the real battle but merely a depiction of what happened.

The character of Lt. Colonel Anderson, Commanding Officer, 2nd Ranger Battalion, who gave Capt. Miller his order to find Ryan is fictitious. Miller himself was fictitious and there was no such officer commanding Company C of the 2nd Rangers. However, the actions which Miller performed on Omaha Beach were also documented as having been done by real-life American officers who breached the German defenses.In the same context that Anderson and Miller were fictitious characters, so to were the rest of the squad which included Sergeant Horvath, Corporal Upham, and Privates Caparzo, Mellish, Reiben, Jackson, Wade, and Upham.

In fact, James Ryan, Private, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division is also fictitious, although it was based on Frederick "Fritz" Niland, Sergeant, 101st Airborne Division, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Battalion, Company H, 1st Platoon. Ryan was supposed to have lost three brothers, two in Normandy and another near New Guinea. Niland's brother Robert was killed on D-Day at Neuville-au-Plain and Preston was killed the next day near Utah Beach. Edward, an Air Force pilot, was reported missing over Burma and was missing in action for some time and was presumed dead.

He was later found to be alive. Ryan's mother was supposed to be a widow in Iowa. However, the real Niland was Tonawanda, New York, with Michael and Augusta as parents. Like Ryan, Niland was also parachuted at Raffoville. The historical fact on D-Day. However, Niland was able to rejoin his unit at Carentan so there was no need to search for him. Thus, Miller's mission was also pure fiction. The Chaplain of the 501st, Father Francis L. Sampson, learned about the death of the two Niland brothers and proceeded to do the paperwork to send Fritz home.

The sergeant stayed with his unit until the paperwork came through and he was eventually sent home, serving as military police until the end of the war. Although most of Saving Private Ryan may be fiction, Stephen Ambrose gives the best description of its qualities, "The search for Private Ryan is fiction, but of the kind that illuminates truth rather than diminishing it."